Assessing Assessments: Determining what s right for you based on your needs and the specifics of the job. Skillful.com

Transcription

1 Assessing Assessments: Determining what s right for you based on your needs and the specifics of the job. Skillful.com

2 1. Online Assessments Description: Online assessments are tests that applicants complete on a computer during prescreening, screening, or between interview rounds. They provide quantitative feedback on a candidate s specific skills. Many workforce centers provide companies free access to assessments and testing centers. ProvideIT, CoreScore, ACT Workkeys Prescreen and screen for required skills during the application process Complement interview questions to provide quantitative skill data Premade and easy to use Great option to provide a quantitative measure on a specific skill Opportunity to filter candidates for required skills instead of credentials Not specific to how the competency is used at your company Not available for complex competencies; for example, it s hard to test critical thinking with online assessments Page 2 of 6

3 2. Personality Assessments Description: Personality assessments are tests, often multiple choice or yes/no questions about oneself, that provide insights into a candidate s personality to help explain how that person will behave on the job. Pairin, Myers Briggs Compare current workforce personality traits to the candidate pool Understand how candidate personalities fit the job (e.g., how will this candidate react to an environment of rapid change?) Provides additional insights that complement information from skill assessments Often reflects traits that help your current team successfully evaluate candidates Assessments may not reflect personality traits specific to job performance and may instead reinforce social biases (e.g., Myers Briggs) 1 Often, organizations look at how personality meets company expectations; they should instead examine how candidate personality fits the job (e.g., extraverted candidates for highly networked sales positions) Candidates self-reflection may result in biased information 1 Page 3 of 6

4 3. Skills-Based Interview Questions Description: A behavioral interview question that focuses on a specific competency on the job description that provides insights into what applicants skill levels are and how they would use the skills on the job. Skillful s competency-based and occupational questions, ReadyPrepInterview occupation specific Define how candidates have used and developed their skills and how those skills apply to the requirements of your job Align expectations of the job with the candidates desires and goals Provides significant insights into foundational skills (critical thinking, problem solving) and occupational knowledge (drug interactions, other organizations with which your company can work) Qualitative and swayed by the bias of the interviewer Difficult to understand specific occupational skills that are easier to demonstrate than talk about (e.g., coding, machine tools, drawing blood) Page 4 of 6

5 4. Technical Interviews Description: A situation or activity in which the applicant is asked to perform a specific job duty to assess the required skills. Reminder: Unless applicants are being paid, they are prohibited by law to complete any work for your company. Coding challenges during software developer interviews, writing and social media samples, operation of 3D printer, roleplaying conflict resolution with customer Demonstrates whether or not candidates can perform specific job tasks and displays their competence in doing so Provides significant insight into occupational and foundational skills as they relate to the specifics of your job Reduces issues of bias from disability, cultural appropriateness, and test design (if designed correctly and specific to the job) Requires additional work to prepare, plus assessment time during the interview Page 5 of 6

6 5. Artificial Intelligence Description: Occupation-specific assessment that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to interpret candidate performance (or predict best-candidate potential) on the job, regardless of technical ability Catalyte, Pinsight Replace reliance on the above strategies with AI assessment, often used in addition to shortened interview If designed correctly, AI is less affected by the bias of hiring managers than other assessments With enough performance data from your existing team, these assessments can be the best predictor for job success If designed incorrectly, AI reinforces bias of designer and company Significant cost and time investment for development Can require extensive data on existing staff performance Page 6 of 6